Blazing Encounters
by Jessicha Therese
Summary: Mikan's mind went blank. “You just said that my abs can make you drool a river,” Natsume supplied the information that she needed, sensing that her brain was filled with question marks. “I now know that you're IQ is below water's freezing point." MXN!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Gakuen Alice  
**Author's Note:** This is going to be a four or five-chapter story, I think. I've already written down until the third chapter but they still need editing. Hope you enjoy reading. Updates will be faster this time.

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**Blazing Encounters  
**Chapter One

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**Part One: Gym Topped with Ice Cream

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**

Another day of wearisome classes passed and I, Sumire and Hotaru were gathered in the latter's room.

"I so hate Natsume!" I screamed as I plopped down my body on Hotaru's soft bed. This was a normal scene—me shouting all my frustrations—that includes Natsume who's been my partner and classmate for _too_ long—in the world.

Hotaru rolled her eyes at my statement and sauntered towards the bed. "Yeah right. But you want to lick his abs anyway."

"Damn no!" I retorted hotly. "As if there's any!"

A chuckle reverberated in the room and I sent a glare at Sumire's way—she wasn't deterred even for a bit, to my annoyance.

"Denial queen," she started, her eyes dancing with humour. "You were the one who practically screamed during one basketball practice that his abs can make you drool a _river_."

My face flushed with embarrassment and I tried to hide the shame that was engulfing me by acting mad at her. "I didn't say that. I didn't scream. And a river? Pft. Dream on."

Sumire and Hotaru shared the same irking gesture—nodding their head as though understanding but were truly mocking me.

I seethed with suppressed anger. It was that Natsume's fault.. I'm definitely going get him for that one day.

So, what happened? Well, simple. Last week, it was a Tuesday to be exact and we had our P.E time. Evidently, it was one of my most hated days since I share a lot of class with Natsume.

-;-

"_Polka," Natsume called and I turned around to look at him suspiciously. There's definitely nothing good coming with Natsume getting your attention._

"_What do you want?" I asked, acerbically, not in the mood for any ceremony. And I was so annoyed at the nickname that he baptized me with._

_He stared at me with those emotionless eyes. "Can you repeat after me?"_

"_Huh?"_

_My mind literally went blank. Repeat after him? Are we going to take some oath?_

"_I know that your IQ's lower than room temperature but I didn't expect you to be that dumb," he muttered under his breath, perhaps egging me to unleash the demon within._

_But the demon didn't. Good for him. "Just go away, okay?"_

_He raised an eyebrow and looked at me as if he was asking if I really meant what I was saying. "I will annoy you to no end if you will not do what I say."_

_I scoffed. "What do you think of me? A dog? I don't know how to bark, arf!"_

_Amusement crossed his eyes for a fleeting second, too quick that I wasn't even sure if it really did. I sighed, thinking that I should just get over this. "Okay."_

"_As loud as you can."_

"_Fine, jerk."_

"_I," he started, mirth on his voice._

_I hesitated but had no choice but to continue when he sent me a menacing glare. Not that I'm scared shit or what. I'm just avoiding going against the flow and poking his eyes accidentally. _

"_I," I repeated and since my voice is naturally loud, heads turned to look at us._

"_State your name."_

"_State your name," I murmured dully._

_He rolled his eyes and scowled. "Stop proving to me over and over again that you're an idiot because I already know."_

"_Shut your trap, okay!" I exclaimed. "Sadistic bastard."_

"_Natsume's abs can make me drool a river," he stated softly, soft enough for only me to hear._

"_Natsume's abs can make me drool a river," I mimicked his words._

_Oddly, the people in the gym laughed and broke into sudden murmurs. Girls sent daggers towards me and boys smirked._

_Loading._

_Buffering._

_System crashing._

_What happened?_

"_You just said that my abs can make you drool a river," Natsume supplied the information that I needed, sensing that my brain was filled with question marks. "I now know that you're IQ is below water's freezing point."_

_-;-_

So, that was what happened to me—the victim. And how did I handle the embarrassment? Well, thank god I'm a genius (Screw you Natsume!) and immediately played fainting. Hotaru and Sumire came into my rescue and aided me to the infirmary. But, we never got there. Instead, we went to the canteen.

"I have news," Sumire accosted, breaking my line of thoughts.

I strode towards her and Hotaru and sat down on the soft bed. "Spill."

"In order to finish our whole website-making thing that was assigned to us for the contest, we're going to have an overnight tonight. Cool, right?" Sumire informed and immediately received a smile from me whose bad mood vanished in a snap.

Hotaru stood up, brushed invisible dirt from her clothes and headed towards the door. "Sumire, help Mikan get ready. I'll be in my room."

And with that said, the amethyst-eyed girl left. Sumire turned to me, her expression perplexed. "What's wrong with her?"

"Hmmm," I riposted.

Sumire became more confused with my answer—if it can be considered as an answer. "What?"

"Don't know."

"I'm going to hit you."

After a blink of an eye, I felt pain on my head and rubbed it while drilling holes on Sumire's face. Annoyance surged within me at the thought of being a punching bag for no reason at all. "Why did you hit me?"

She shrugged and stared dully at me. "I warned you."

"Yeah. For like, half a second before you did it," I shot back, incensed. What the hell is wrong with her. Gawd.

"Then stop giving me moronic answers if you don't want to get hit."

Pouting, I tried to retort but stopped in the attempt. I'll just be wasting my time doing so. "Aside from being her usual self, I guess Hotaru's troubled with _someone_."

The girl's eyes widened at the information and stared unbelievingly at me. "Since when did Hotaru became _troubled_ with someone?"

I grinned. "Ruka kissed Hotaru on the cheek," I replied, watching as Sumire's face was licked with surprise.

"Why? Wasn't he afraid of his life? Hotaru would surely send him to oblivion."

Sumire was right. Tsk. Poor Ruka. He would surely die soon.

Nudging me, Sumire prompted that I answer her question. I shrugged and offered an explanation. "Hotaru bought the last Vanilla Cornetto ice cream left in the canteen. Turned out, Ruka wanted to buy it since it was his favorite too. Hotaru didn't give in until—well. I don't know what happened at that certain moment—but well, Hotaru gave the Cornetto to Ruka. He was so glad he gave Hotaru a kiss on the cheek."

Sumire chortled and stared teasingly at me. "Wasn't that the exact same thing that happened between you and Natsume?"

I snarled. "Except that he gave my Coffee Caramel Cornetto after devouring the top and he _shoved_ the blasted ice cream on my face."

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_Care to review?_  
_Jessicha Therese_


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Gakuen Alice and some of the lines during Natsume's and Mikan's exchange of remarks.  
**Author's Note:** Here's the continuation. Hope you'll enjoy.

* * *

**Blazing Encounters**  
Chapter One

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**Part Two: A Night of Laughter**

**

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**

I walked out of the computer laboratory after dumping my bags together with Hotaru's and Sumire's on one corner of the room. On my way out, words wouldn't suffice to describe my astonishment when I saw Natsume, Ruka and Koko with their bags in their grasp. In pursuit of them were Hotaru and Sumire, the former in her nonchalant stance and the latter in her annoyed expression.

"Yo, Mikan!" Koko accosted, his Cheshire grin on his face.

Ruka smiled at me good-naturedly. "Good evening, Mikan."

I gave them both a wide grin in return, taking note that Natsume was as usual, being silent again in the background.

I closed my eyes, imagining the image of Natsume and me inside a room.

Then, the three boys passed me and entered the laboratory. I raised an eyebrow at Sumire, demanding for an explanation.

She gritted her teeth. "It's going to be the six of us tonight."

"I was open to the idea of having some classmates with us tonight but why _him_?" I asked, tension rising within me. Heck, Natsume will be in the same room with me? Those teachers sure weren't afraid that the lab would turn into ashes.

Hotaru rolled her eyes, acting as if nothing of these circumstances is bothering her. "The teachers chose us because of our writing skills. We will be the ones to fill in the content of the web pages. They, on the other hand, were chosen for their skill in making the site with all those codes," she pointed out.

In the end, we were left with no choice but to join the boys inside the laboratory.

In fairness, I was sort of impressed because we arrived at the sight of them with their computers already turned on and their hands busily encoding codes.

Natsume was in his usual black attire. Girls said he looked cool having been clothed with black shirt and pants. I say he looked like someone from a satanic cult.

To my amusement, I caught Ruka, the one I'm close with aside from Koko, throwing fleeting glances at Hotaru who skidded to a halt in front of a computer.

_What could be the meaning of this? Ruka sure fancies Hotaru, eh?_

Suddenly, a bang sounded in the room and for a moment, the lights flickered on and off before it went to normal.

"Argh!" Sumire screamed and everyone's head turned their attention to her and Koko.

_What a sight_, I mused.

Koko's computer was smoking; hovering over him was a furious Sumire who was clutching her right hand as if it was in pain.

The scene was amusing and I wasn't able to contain my laughter.

Ruka joined in with my boisterous laughter but the heated atmosphere within the boundaries of Koko and Sumire didn't change—it even worsened, if that was possible.

"I got electrocuted, you jerk!" Sumire yelped and rubbed her right hand over and over again.

A goofy grin plastered itself on Koko's face and he shook his head. "Whose fault was that? I wasn't the one who attempted to irritate me by unplugging my computer. I wasn't the one who plugged it back in in a much higher voltage."

Sumire huffed and glowered at him. "You could have warned me. Electricity ran through my veins and I thought it was my end."

"Bad little girls don't die that easily," Koko contradicted.

Before we knew it, Sumire lunged herself towards Koko and slapped his arms multiple of times. Koko tried to hold her back but lost his balance and fell of the chair, bringing Sumire down with him.

The loud clamour that their bodies made led us shaking our heads. Those two childhood friends will never change.

You might conclude that Sumire and Koko treat each other as arch nemesis. Actually, the two of them are the best of friends. They grew up together and have known each other since god knows when. Hotaru and I were sort of Koko's childhood friends too but Sumire was the one who got extremely close to him.

"Koko!" Sumire yelled. "My hand, goddammit!"

The two of them stood up and composed themselves. Koko shot Sumire an apologetic glance and grasped her right hand. "I'm sorry."

It may look like Sumire was annoyed at Koko's presence earlier but inwardly, I think the witch's happy. Even though they don't show it, they care for each other.

Sumire retrieved her hand back and scowled at him. "Lollipop. Thirty pieces."

Koko smiled at that.

I turned around to see that Natsume, Ruka and Hotaru had resumed with their work.

_Guess it's time for toiling_.

With my arms crossed to give me warmth since it was so cold, I walked towards the computer beside Hotaru's. There were two rows of computers—one row, with ten computers, was set on one side of the wall and the other was set across it. That meant that there was an ample space in between.

Sumire followed suit and chose the computer beside mine.

"Permy," Koko called out, using the nickname that we baptized the sixteen-year old girl with.

I felt Sumire shift her chair and rotated her position in order to see Koko who was across her. "What?" she responded, this time not minding the nickname.

"Just send me your write-ups and I will take care of it," he answered. "Including you Mikan and Hotaru."

I grunted in approval. Hotaru said nothing.

For thirty minutes, no one breathed a word and a comfortable silence wrapped the place.

The coldness brought by the air condition seeped through my system and even though I was wearing pants, I felt naked under the frosty temperature. Since I was only wearing slippers, my feet were like it was freezing.

A moment later, I felt a sudden tickle on my right foot and thought at first that I was just a sensation yielded from the cold. But the tickling feelings seemed to move upwards.

_Oh no. This is weird._

I looked down and shouted.

"Cockroach!"

I bolted from my chair and dashed towards Sumire who was laughing her head off. "You sure look like you've seen a ghost."

"That horrendous brown creature has a lot of legs!" I exclaimed, frightened at the thought that it _touched_ my foot. It crawled on me. Walked on me.

I saw Natsume walk from his chair to my spot. He bent down, looking for something—for the cockroach, maybe. Then, he propped up, his fingers holding the offending thing.

"What is there to fear?" he asked and dropped the cockroach. The creature scuttled away from our sight. "You need not be so loud. Don't bother others."

With that said, Natsume continued his work.

I would have lunged into him like the way Sumire did but I knew he had a point. I had a fault so I'm gonna lie low for the moment.

My spirit low, I sat down once again. Hotaru nodded at me in acknowledgement and I nodded in return. Sumire became silent and the only sound heard from her side was that of pressing keys on the keyboard.

A little later, without breaking from her task, Sumire voiced out, "Do you find it wrong or weird if you argue with yourself?"

I shook my head even though I knew Sumire couldn't take note of the gesture. "There is nothing wrong with arguing with yourself. It's if you argue with yourself and lose is when it's weird**."**

Hotaru snorted on my other side and I threw a questioning look at her. She just stared back and said in a flat tone, "You're stupid."

"I second the motion," Koko added.

Sumire giggled. "Third."

"Fourth," Ruka joined in.

To my chagrin and surprise, Natsume spoke up. "Fifth."

"I didn't ask for your opinion!" I turned around and shot at him, indignant. I may sound childish but argh, every inch of Natsume makes me boil with anger. And I will never forget how he shoved the ice cream to my face.

Natsume quirked an eyebrow and smirked. "Assuming, much? I was talking to Ruka. Ruka, fifth line from the top needs correction."

"Oh, really?" I responded, not deterred. "As if that's the truth."

I looked at Ruka and was rendered speechless when he nodded and smiled sympathetically at me. "He's right. He was talking about the codes."

"Hear that, idiot?"

My face turned red but I won't succumb to the arrogance of this bastard. "Keep in mind what you just said, because tomorrow, I will have a witty and sarcastic comeback and you'll be devastated then."

"I'd love to have a battle of wits with you but you appear to be unarmed," Natsume answered, his voice taunting and infuriating.

"Why, you! What did you mean by that?!"

"I want to explain it to you but I'm afraid your brain would explode."

My brain heated to boiling point at his remark. _Smart, arrogant mouth. I so hate it_. "Say sorry or else, you're dead."

Natsume's dark eyes stared at me dully. "I never apologize. I'm sorry, but that's just the way I am."

_Huh? Did he seriously say that? Never apologize, huh and then he said sorry_.

I gave out a guffaw. "My imaginary friend thinks you have some serious problems."

"Don't look at me in that tone of voice," Natsume said, his voice gradually losing the flatness in it. His back was still on me but I could see that he had stopped typing codes.

"Haha," I laughed. Gosh. Absurdity was sprouting out from Natsume's mouth! "As I said before, I never repeat myself. But you have some serious problem, dude."

By this time, Sumire was giggling at our exchange of remarks and I won't deny that throwing each other foolish lines was getting fun.

Natsume turned his swivel chair around, facing me this time. Crossing his arms, "Do you have trouble making up your mind? Well, yes or no?"

I wiped the tears of laughter from my eyes and pointed my finger at him. "You know what, I have some advice. Cheer up, the worst is yet to come."

My eyes glowed with delight when in a split second, I saw the corners of Natsume's mouth fought against gravity. I was sure that I have seen a ghost of a smile on his face. "Open your mind."

I gazed upon Natsume. "I used to have an open mind but my brains kept falling out."

Everyone—excluding Emerald who just raised an eyebrow and Natsume who turned around again, shaking his head in the process—broke down and laughed at the statement and Koko literally rolled on the floor. My stomach ached with all the giggles that I sounded and Natsume appeared to have been experiencing more or less the same enjoyment in the air. And oddly, that idea was enough to make me smile in content.

But, wait.

What got into Natsume?

* * *

-;-

It was already eleven in the evening when we decided to eat our dinner. After a session of laughing, we became serious and the goal of finishing the project was set in our minds. If it were not for my grumbling stomach, perhaps, we would have entirely forgotten that we haven't eaten yet.

But I was really embarrassed at the thought that it was _my_ stomach which roared like thunder.

"Just lay a cloth there on the floor and place the food containers," Hotaru directed. We have decided to share food with the boys and they in return, intended to do the same thing.

Sumire did the work of setting our eating place and moments later, we squatted on the floor with the food before us. A great diversity of food was presented before me and I started wobbling some down. I'm hungry, okay?

"Pig," Natsume muttered under his breath but since he was sitting next to me (why the heck was he beside me, again?) in the circle that we made, his words were so audible.

I shot a glare at him but unfortunately, he didn't give a damn. He continued feeding himself, chewing and swallowing. Chewing and swallowing. Chewing and swallowing. When will he choke?

Oh! By the way, speaking of choking, I remember a line I heard somewhere. "_Life isn't about how many breaths you take but rather, with how many moments took your breath away. Like choking_."

Okay. So if you didn't get the humor in that then you're stupid. Don't worry. Stupid is something positive. Stupid stands for 'Smart Talented Unique Person In Demand." Well, on second thought, you're not stupid. Insert grin here.

"Why are you smiling like an idiot?" Sumire inquired, slapping me in the forehead with her greasy hand. Eww. Seriously, she could have used her _forehead_ in her attempt of banging my head. But with her greasy hands? Gawd.

I tapped her hand forcefully and gulped down a spoonful of tocino. I don't know if it was bad karma for wishing bad of Natsume but I choked.

Coughing strenuously, I reached for my glass of water but it was empty. My throat cried at the thought. Was I going to die?

"W-Wat—," I managed to utter. Tears were forming on the corner of my eyes with the effort of vomiting what obstructed the passageway for my air.

Then, Sumire all but forced water on my mouth. Seconds later, I was able to breathe again and when I looked up to the faces of my companions, I saw that they were highly amused.

"Charming, as always," Hotaru sneered, shaking her head and continuing with her eating.

All I could do was pout and tear my food into minute pieces.

Silence fell like a curtain on us and the only sound prominent was that of clinking utensils. Sumire and Koko were throwing each other uneasy glances while Hotaru was being her usual self. Ruka didn't seem to have the energy to break the ice either.

Minutes passed and the deafening silence wasn't suiting me well. I needed to speak. "Does any of you plans to sleep tonight?"

"No. Staying awake during overnights has been my vow, remember?" Sumire replied, taking a swig out of her soft drinks.

Stabbing a hotdog from Sumire's plate and wolfing it down, Koko scoffed in disbelief at Sumire's statement. "Don't make us laugh. Everyone knows you easily falls a sleep. Last time we had an overnight together, you were sleeping with your face on the floor and your butt in the air."

I watched as an intense red colored Sumire's cheeks and she sent daggers to Koko's way. Hotaru smirked at the boy's statement, fully knowing that he hit the nail.

"You placed a sleeping pill on my drink!"

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_How was it?_

_Care to review?_

_Jessicha Therese_


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Gakuen Alice  
**Author's Note:** Serious stuff this time. There's not much of crack moments here but nevertheless, I hope you guys will enjoy reading. This is for those who are waiting for MXN.

* * *

**BLAZING ENCOUNTERS**  
Chapter Two

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**PART ONE: ALONE**

**

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**

When midnight struck and when my eyes started to blur from staring very long at the monitor screen, I decided to take a break from all the work. I excused myself from everyone and headed out towards the school garden, bringing two blankets with me.

The place was just what I wanted. Peaceful and tranquil. You will be greeted by a large expanse of grassland where you can sit down and gaze at the star. A couple of walks from the field will lead you to a gate of vines. The garden houses different kinds of flowers and plants and trees.

Securing a blanket on the grassy floor, I sat down and clothed myself with the other blanket. The sky looked so bright with the shining stars from where I was sitting down.

My thoughts drifted towards Natsume.

The boy was such a wonder to me that no matter how hard I try to eliminate his presence from my system, no matter how much anger I exude in order to hide the growing affection for him, I really fail in the field of forgetting him.

I sighed.

I'm such a two-faced idiot.

In front of others, I act like I hate him but when I'm all alone, all those kept feeling come rushing in.

Swear, I'm not bipolar or something. Yes, I like him and what I said about detesting him, as well, was true. I mean, his character was just something that can tick me off and I wasn't lying about that.

--

"_Get lost, you freak!" the thirteen-year old Luna screamed at my face._

_Sprawled on the ground after being pushed by the blonde girl, I looked up to see her horrible face—tear-stricken and she was huffing. It took me everything to stop my voice from breaking. Being bullied like this was something I didn't dream of. "Luna, it wasn't my fault."_

"_It was your fault that I swallowed an orange seed!" she yelled, rubbing a hand over her eyes. And I never dreamt that I would see the day that the all-mighty Luna will be acting like a street child. "You're such a menace here. I hope that you're not that stupid not to understand how much we don't want you."_

_A sensitive part of me was hit hardly by her words. Before Hotaru and the gang came into my life, I was an island. No one bothered to talk to me no matter how much I befriended them. And all those friends that I had before left me too._

_This time, a tear fell down from my eyes. "That's not true."_

"_Yes, it's true. And you're going to pay if an orange tree will grow inside of me."_

_If the situation was much different, I could have laughed. People may brand me as a slow-thinker (which I think is not true), I'm not that stupid not to know about the real deal about swallowing seeds. And to think she's already thirteen years old and still, she believes in that crap._

_A poke on my leg broke my thoughts. "Go away. You don't deserve everybody's time and attention."_

"_Shut up, Koizumi."_

_My eyes widened hearing that male voice of my partner for two years already, the partner that I had the moment I stepped on to this new school._

"_N-Natsume-kun!" Luna gasped, rendered speechless._

_I stood up slowly, baffled at Natsume's actions._

_He glared at the girl. "Leave us alone, pest."_

_The last word that he uttered made Luna and me gasp with surprise. It made the greatest effect on Luna who scuttled away, appearing as if she was physically wounded._

_Natsume sauntered towards me, taking slow steps._

"_You look stupid," he said._

_The pout immediately found its way on my face and I glared at him. "Thank you for the compliment."_

"_Hn."_

_Silence ensued after and I didn't know how to break it. Should I say 'thank you' for the palpable way that he defended me? But why would he do that in the first place?_

_Should I ask about that then? The reason why he defended me?_

_When I returned to reality, I saw Natsume staring at me intensely, his crimson eyes searching deep through my chocolate ones. Then, he spoke those words that I would never forget for another lifetime. "You deserve everything. It's even a question of us. Do we deserve you?" He closed his eyes in a moment and when he opened them again, I was lost. "Stop being an idiot. You even deserve my time and attention. But do I deserve yours?"_

_Then, he just walked away._

_And I was left with everything unsaid._

--

Perhaps that was the time when I started seeing Natsume in a much different light. I noticed a lot about him. Things that he successfully hid from the rest of us. But I successfully saw through his mask of indifference and nonchalance.

After that day when he said those words to me, he acted like that moment didn't exist at all. And hell will freeze first before _I_ will act that something really happened. That he said those touching and pensive words.

Another sigh came and it made me frown. It didn't come from me.

Turning around, I saw the profile of Natsume, his face glowing upon the endowment of moonlight. I blinked. It didn't come to me fully until now how handsome Natsume is. Girls have been on his feet since god-knows-when I never really realized the reason why. Yes, he was sort of good-looking but it didn't dawn on me _how_ good-looking he is.

The real reason that I liked him was because of the kindness that I saw and the care—

His nose. The emphasized line of his jaw. His lips. God.

But what caught me was the beauty of his eyes. Crimson. And they seemed to shine. His eyes were enveloped in long lashes.

"What are you doing here?" he suddenly voiced out, retrieving me back to the world. To my surprise, I felt heat climbing up to my cheeks and looking down was all I could do to hide that fact from Natsume.

I heard the shuffling sound of grass as he sat down beside me, taking up the extra space offered by the blanket that I laid down.

Looking up, I saw him staring up into space, his mien calm and at ease. "Do you like the sky?"

He didn't look away from the sky upon hearing my question but he opened his mouth to answer.

"No."

"Why?" I asked softly, grimacing inwardly at how exact our opinions are regarding the sky.

He didn't give me an answer this time around. But I didn't need him to. Suddenly, I felt the urge to talk. To tell him about my thoughts. To spill what I feel.

Maybe, this was the effect of my deep reflection earlier.

"I don't like it too. In fact, I hate the sky," I started with bitterness that made Natsume look my way. I diverted my eyes towards the sky this time. "It's so powerless."

"Why?" he inquired, his voice surprisingly gentle, very unlike his usual arrogant and harsh tone.

The corner of my lips turned down. "It doesn't have the power to stop the clouds from crying. And I detest it when clouds cry because it gives me a chance to cry too. It offers a disguise for my tears. It can make the tears be mistaken into rain. And—I—and, and I hate the sky from not being able to keep the stars within sight. Can't keep the brightness from fading away."

In an instant, Natsume was on his feet, staring down at me and the next thing I knew, he was offering his hand for me to stand up. "It can't keep the stars forever like how we can't keep people with us forever," he muttered in a very low voice.

Accepting his hand, I pondered about his words and remembered all those times when loved ones left me. When all those friends forgot about me. When my father and mother left me even before—

To my horror, a sob sounded in the air.

Through my cloudy peripheral view, I saw Natsume move uncomfortably. Seeing the tears in my eyes possibly made him discomforted.

He raised a hand and placed it on my cheeks—immediately heating it up and I inwardly cursed at him for making me feel this way. "You'll get uglier if you'll continue to cry."

Somehow, his touch made the tears fall faster. I don't know but suddenly, I felt the overwhelming force of loneliness. I've never realized how attached to the past I am and how afraid I am to the idea of people leaving me. I've never realized till Natsume said those words. And somehow, his touch comforted me and lifted my insides more than he nor could I anticipate.

His touch reminded me that there are people who'll wipe away my tears.

There are people who'll make me feel that I can lean on them even if they're saying nothing about it.

And wipe Natsume did. As the tears cascaded down my cheeks and collected on my chin, he wiped them off.

He leaned my body against his, drawing me into a hug that was hesitantly endeavoured but he did so anyway.

We stayed in that position for a while. Natsume didn't move away when I clutched at his shirt and he held me tight when tears wrecked my form.

He didn't utter a word but his actions were enough to ease the turmoil inside of me. Natsume may be a boy to hate but he was also the one who stayed with me through the years. Being his partner exposed the fact that I have a _partner_. That I'm not alone.

"You're going to wash my shirt when this is all done," he snarled at me but I knew better than be annoyed at the tone of his voice.

I moved away and we stood there, facing each other.

Smiling at him, I slapped his arm once.

"What the hell?" he growled, glaring daggers at me.

I stuck my tongue out at him and started to tread back towards the computer laboratory. My back on him, I murmured, "Thank you."

"Whatever," he responded. And in a second, he was walking beside me.

All of a sudden, I heard a squishing sound on the ground.

I narrowed my eyes in confusion, sensing that my shoes stepped on something very soft.

I lifted my right foot up and screamed. "Kyaa!"

Natsume was immediately before me and he was staring on my right shoe that I tried to elevate. Disgust was in his eyes. "Stupid and gross. Only you will step on dog shit."

"What the heck!" I screeched. I stepped on dog poo! "Natsume! What am I going to do?"

He rolled his eyes. "Just rub that on the grass and it'll be gone."

I stared at him in horror, my mouth agape. "And leave all this crap behind so that other students will be victimized? And that would be horrible to look at!"

"Does it look like I care?" he demanded, annoyance in his tone. Argh! Natsume was being a jerk again! "Hurry up or I'll leave you."

I huffed, not knowing what to do especially that Natsume was being uncooperative once again.

After thinking about it, for I was left with no choice, I took the shoe off from my right foot and hopped one-legged towards the garbage can nearby.

I sighed.

My balance proved to be below normal with _tw_o feet, what now with only one?

I did the whole predicament of hopping in approaching Natsume, and almost fell flat on my face three times.

"Stop hopping and just _walk_," he hissed, catching me when I almost fell once more.

I frowned. "I can't. Except for the garden that we just came out from, it's all pebbles and stones and I don't want to risk myself having injury."

Natsume stopped in his tracks. He sighed. "You sure have a way of making things complicated."

With that said, he neared me and I narrowed my eyes in suspicion. "What are you going to do?"

"Shut up and be still."

Before I knew it, his arms curved its way under my knees and had lifted me off the ground already.

"Put me down, jerk!" I retaliated, abashed at being carried bridal style. I wiggled my feet, trying to escape but his hold was so strong. "Put me down!"

"Stop screaming," he growled. "Another move or sound and I will _accidentally_ drop you."

The warning in his voice was all it took to silence me and all I could do was to snake my arms on his neck, afraid of being put down in that harsh way after all.

Without nothing much to do, I took a deep breath. And that was a mistake.

Good. Damn good. He smelled damn well with that—with that indescribably smell of his...masculine but with a taste of something familiar.

Geez. My head spun and I clutched at Natsume's neck tighter.

He tensed for a second at the touch but relaxed in the end. When he spoke, there was a hint of arrogance and amusement in his voice. "Liked what you smelled?"

"I did not smell you!" I retorted hotly, my cheeks burning.

He snorted."Yeah. Everyone within a ten-mile radius could hear you _sniffing_."

"Yes, I was sniffing," I gritted my teeth. "And it was so stinky. You know, all I could smell was the stink from the dog shit."

"You're hopeless."

* * *

_How was it?_

_Care to review?_

_Jessicha Therese_


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** I don't own GA.  
**Author's Notes:** It's short, I know. I'm sorry. I don't have much time is all. If things are done and they soon will be hopefully, I'm gonna post a long chapter. Bear with me. Thanks to your reviews. They made my day. Enjoy!

* * *

**BLAZING ENCOUNTERS**  
Chapter Two

* * *

**PART TWO: STUPIDITY**

* * *

I can't understand what I'm feeling. My insides were burning. It was as if they're experiencing a kind of hell that my eyes haven't perceived. Yet, I felt cold, frozen even. Rubbing my hands across my arms, I wanted to produce heat. But, satisfaction wasn't attained.

Classes were already over and I strutted blindly towards the bathroom. After last night's activity, my energy was drained and during class, I kept dozing off to sleep, leading me to be scolded especially by Jinno-sensei.

Koko and Sumire were walking after me and they're having their usual word plays. I fought back a growl from escaping my lips, feeling that their noise was making my head feel worse.

"Sumire," I heard Koko say.

Sumire grunted her response. " What?"

"Uhmm," Koko frowned, hesitant and unsure of his approach. I could practically sense his nervousness and my attention was caught by that fact. "My girl friend asked me never to talk to you again."

Sumire stood rooted, stunned into silence and I gasped, surprised as well at what Koko said. Anna forbid him to talk to Sumire?

I stopped walking, perplexed. Anna's not the kind to be that _unreasonable_. She knew that Sumire's Koko's best friend. Why would she do something like that? It's not as if she should be jealous—

Wait. That's it. Anna _was_ jealous of Sumire. Jealous that Sumire's spending all those times. Jealous that— Oh. I get it now.

I turned to look at Sumire whose smile vanished. She was standing there, and she looked like she was making up her mind. After a few agonizing moments of silence, she looked up and grinned at Koko but he and I clearly saw the sadness in it. "Okay."

Koko moved forward and held her arms, looking at her with an affectionate expression that took me aback. He was looking at her lovingly, his typical mischievous smile replaced with an endearing one. "That's why I broke up with her. Anna and I are done."

* * *

I left Sumire and Koko to provide them some privacy. A smile found its way on my face upon remembering Koko's words.

Then, the throb in my head was back again and almost immediately, my hand rose to caress my temples.

"Idiot, are you okay?" a familiar voice woke me up from my reverie. I turned around and saw Natsume. Ignoring him, I proceeded to sit down on the nearby bench.

It didn't take long before Natsume followed me and positioned himself beside me.

As to be expected, annoyance surged and I shifted to the boy next to me. What the hell was he doing? Stalking me? I wasn't in the mood to fight with him again.

"Of course not. Who would want to stalk you?" Natsume suddenly said. My mind totally went blank.

Did he just speak English? Oh, of course, he did. But—

"Pardon?" I asked, my mind giving up in the attempt to understand.

Natsume raised an eyebrow and stared at me as if I was delirious. "What's with the great stupidity today?"

The guts of this man! Did he just call me stupid? Oh, no. He's gonna get it.

Not wanting to think of a witty remark because it just hurts, I slapped him on the arm and smirked when he yelped in pain.

_Ah. That should do_.

"What the hell?" he asked, glaring at me with those drooled-over crimson eyes of his.

Instead of giving a response, I stood up and sauntered towards the bathroom a few feet from me. Natsume said something after me but I didn't take the effort to lend my ears to him.

Upon opening the door of the bathroom, I was beyond shock to find a boy doing his...business inside.

The boy exclaimed in shock and glowered at me. (Thank God his zipper's closed.) "What the hell, woman?"

My cheeks immediately flamed with anger. The boy didn't just call me a _woman_, did he? "Listen here, Mister! Woman?! I'm sixteen for god's sakes! How dare you call me a _woman_?!

To my surprise, instead of backing down, the boy pointed his finger at the door and screamed once more. "Get out! Get the hell out of here!"

Before I could tackle the blasted boy down, a furious Natsume was grabbing me out of the bathroom. I tried to let go of his hold in order to beat the crap out of the boy but Natsume was too strong and he easily pushed me down to sit on the bench.

"Are you mad?" he barked.

My eyebrows met in one line and I shot back, indignant. "That jerk just told me to get out of the bathroom and even called me a _woman_. Say, do I look that _old_ to you?"

He shook his head incredulously and took a deep breath. It seemed to me that he was calming himself. But why was he so damn mad—

In an abrupt moment, a painful pulsing occurred in my head and I kept myself from punching my temples to stop the pain.

When Natsume spoke, I was barely conscious as my eyes blurred. "That boy had every right to tell you to get out. You entered the _men_'s bathroom. Idiot, you made a fool out of yourself, once again."

Oh. Oh. Oh.

"Er," I responded _wisely_, my cheeks flaming with embarrassment. I was such an idiot.

Why didn't I notice that it was the men's bathroom? Gosh.

"Polka?"

Hmmm. Maybe, the embarrassment's clouding my vision. Everything's turning black.

"Mikan?"

* * *

_How was it?_  
_Care to review?_  
_Jessicha Therese_


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